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Cooper's Hawk "Brookville Reservoir"

Cooper's Hawk in-flight- Accipiter cooperii

Coopers Hawk-Accipiter cooperii, Order FALCONIFORMES - Family ACCIPITRIDAE - Subfamily Accipitrinae. In-flight characteristics (compliments of Dave Russel) -Note the rounded tail, head projecting well past wrist; front edge of wings largely straight. "Cooper's Hawks hunt for prey in the woods (a True Forest Hawk) and supposedly often injure themselves. A recent study found that 23 percent of all Cooper's Hawks examined had healed fractures in the bones of the chest, especially of the furcula or wishbone. A winter resident. At the first molt, young birds frequently are bluish-grey in coloration. Length 14-20 inches." This hawk was found in the Brookville Reservoir area in extreme western Indiana near the Ohio border. (Photo: April 10, 2004, Canon 10D, EF 300mm f/4.0L IS USM, 1.4x teleconverter EF ll lens )

Sources of species identification and other amazing info include (1) Cornell Lab of Ornithology--a fantastic site; (2)Birds of Eastern and Central North America, Peterson Field Guide Series, Fifth Edition, Houghton Mifflin Company; (3) The National Audubon Society's Sibley Guide to Birds and (4) Field Guide to the Birds of North America, Third Edition, National Geographic, Washington, D.C.